Translucent building panels



March 13, 1962 F. BURMEISTER TRANSLUCENT BUILDING PANELS 2 Sheets-Sheet1 Filed Jan. 24, 1961 f l 03 gli l I l l x l \llllllllllll||||||||I||||| March 13, 1962 F. BURMEISTER TRANSLUCENT BUILDING PANELS 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 24, 1961 h) w w 1 J um T f. du 4/ \w% ww. Q NTlw Al 3,Z4,88 Patented Mar. i3, 1962 @ffice 3,624,989 TRANSLUCENTBUILDENG PANELS Frederick Burmeister, St. Aibans, NY., assigner toSeaporcel Metais, inc., Long Island City, NX., a corpnration of DelawareFiled lian. 24, 1961, Ser. No. 84,561 i Claims. (Cl. 1259-64) Thisinvention relates to building panels and more particularly to the typeof building panel which is fabricated of two layers of translucentplastic material laminated to the sides of an interior open gridworkcore,

Panels of the indicated type are of sandwich design and usually comprisean interior gridwork composed of extruded aluminum beams locked to eachother and to a frame or perimeter made of aluminum extruded beams, and aone piece layer of Fiberglas reinforced acrylic-poly ester plasticbonded to each side of the gridwork by means of an adhesive which isactivated by heat and pressure.

Translucent building panels of the indicated type have found favor inbuilding constructions because of their light transmitting andinsulating qualities, their light weight and their attractiveappearance. Another important factor in their favor is the low cost ofinstallation of such panels. They are hindered however, in theiracceptance for many other uses in which they can be employed with equalsuccess because of the cost of their construction. While the structureof these panels is relatively simple and it is principally constitutedof sheets of plastic and extruded aluminum beams that readily lendthemselves to mass production methods, the assembly of such parts isaccomplished by a hand operation that raises the cost of these panelsabove that which would enable them to favorably compete with othercustomary, though probably less satisfactory, constructions. In theassembly of these panels, the most time consuming operation, so far aslabor is concerned, is probably the joining of the aluminum beamstogether to form the open framework. Recognizing this, the art has triedvarious expedients to reduce the assembly time of such beams withoutaecting the strength of the structure, which it will be readilyunderstood, is of great importance in a structure as light in weight asthese panels and employed for the purposes for which they have beendesigned.

The primary purpose of the present invention is to provide an improvedtranslucent building panel of the indicated type which is structurallystrong for the purposes intended and yet which is of a construction thatreadily adapts itself to rapid, low cost assemblage.

Another object of the invention is to provide a translucent buildingpanel of the indicated type in which the gridwork beams are joined by animproved extremely simple yet rugged connection that enables the beamsto be readily assembled into gridwork form.

Gther objects of the invention, as well as the advantages thereof, willbecome apparent from the following description when read in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. l is a perspective view ofa building panel embodying the invention and partially broken away toshow its interior construction;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged detailed sectional view taken along the line 2-2of FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken along the line 3-3of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of one of the core beams;

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view on an enlarged scale taken along theline 5--5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a View similar to FIG. 5, but taken along the line 6-6 of FIG,3; and

FG. 7 is an enlarged detailed sectional view of the upper end of alongitudinal core beam and associated portions of transverse core beams.

in the drawings, the reference numerals iii, 11 indicate the transverseand longitudinal beam elements, respectively, which make up the interiorgridwork core of the panel. Laminated to the sides of the gridwork aretwo sheets 12, 12 of translucent material such as the plastic aboveindicated. The edges of the gridwork and the sheets are enclosed by sideframe beam elements 13.

It will be noted that the frame elements 10 and 11 are in the nature ofI-beams and are preferably made of extruded aluminum, though they may bemade of other suitable materials and formed by other methods ofconstruction well known to the art. Each of the elements 19, 11 has aweb portion 15 extending from end to end thereof and having providedalong its longitudinal edges lianges 16, 16 which project outwardly fromeach side of the web portion 15. The inner side of each ange is formedby a substantially fiat, plane longitudinal surface 17 which extendsthroughout the length of the llange, and a coextensive inclined surface18 joined along one longitudinal edge with plane surface 17 and alongits other longitudinal edge with a surface of web portion 15. The outersurfaces of the flanges 16 preferably are minutely groovedlongitudinally at i9 to provide a means for holding the adhesive bywhich such outer surfaces are adhered to the inner surfaces of theplastic sheets 12.

The aforesaid grooved anges 16 on each of the beam lernents Mi and 11,terminate at points short of the ends of such elements so that the ends20 of the web portion project beyond the ends of such flanges. Thelength of such projecting ends 2l) is at least as great as the width ofthe plane surfaces 17 on the llanges 16 and preferably slig'ntiygreater, but less than the distance between the outer edge of a flange16 and the associated surface of the web portion 15 on which such liangeis provided. The upper and lower extremities of each web end 26 areformed to provide oppositely extending, deformable, friction lockingmembers 21, 21, the outer ends of which are normally spaced apart adistance greater than the distance between opposed plane surfaces 17 onthe flanges 16 associated with such web. The locking members 21, whichpreferably are constituted of relatively soft metal aluminum, areconstructed so that their outer ends may be readily bent in the assemblyof the beams. Thus a web end 2t) of one beam can be frictionally wedgedbetween the opposed plane surfaces 17 on one side of another beam, andthe two beams will be frictionally locked together by such members 21.

The beam elements 10 and 11 differ in the respect that they are ofdifferent lengths. The lengths of the longitudinal beams 11 aresubstantially uniform and extend the length of the building panel insubstantial parallelism. The shorter beam elements 10 are disposed atright angles to the beams 11 and their lengths depend upon the widths ofthe spacing between the beams 11 in which they are located. As iscustomary, the transverse beam elements may be variably arranged in thespacings between the beams 11 to obtain any desired pattern orarchitectural effect.

In assembling the elements which are lto constitute the interiorgridwork of a panel, the longitudinal beams 11 are arranged insubstantially parallel relation and then the transverse beams 1G areassembled in interlocked relation on the longitudinal beams. Ininterlocking a beam 10 with a beam 11, an end 20 of the former isinserted at right angles into the space between the flanges 16 on oneside of the latter, with beam 10 slightly tilted to permit the unbentlocking members 21 on such end 20 to enter between the opposed planesurfaces 17 of such flanges. Beam 10 is inserted until the adjacent endsof the flanges 16 thereof come into engagement with lthe outer sideedges of the flanges on the beam 11. The Workman then turns thetransverse beam 10 about its longitudinal axis to bring it to a verticalposition. In this turning movement the outer ends of the locking members21 on beam 10 wipe along the opposed plane surfaces 17 of beam 11 andare bent in opposite directions (note FIG. 6) so that by the time suchturning wiping action is completed the transverse beam 10 will befrictionally interlocked with the associated beam 11. As has beenindicated and as is shown more clearly in FIG. 7 of the drawings, thelength of the tongues on the transverse beams 10` may be greater thanthe widths of the plane surfaces 17 on the inner sides of the flanges 16so that such tongues will come into wedging relation with Ithe inclinedsurfaces 18 thereby enhancing the frictional grip between the beams.

It will be apparent that the assembly of the interior gridwork in themanner indicated can be accomplished in a relatively short period byworkmen of relatively little skill. Even though this operation isrelatively rapid, it has been found that the friction lock between thebeams will provide a rigid structure that may be handled without dangerof displacement of the beams and which is capable of sustainingsubstantial stresses Without becoming disassembled. Thus it is likelythat this manner of connecting the beams together may make it possiblefor the first time in this art to enable the production of these panelsto be accomplished in an assembly line operation.

After the interior gridwork elements 10 and 11 have been `assembled inthe desired relation, the translucent facing members or sheets 12 areapplied to opposite sides of the gridwork with the aid of a suitableadhesive 22 in FIG. 7. The adhesive is preliminarily spread over andalong the grooved edge surfaces 19 of all of the gridwork beam elements10, 11 and adheres the inner surface portions of the sheets 12 overlyingsuch surfaces 19 to the latter. The adhesive bond between the beamelements 10, 11 and the sheets 12 fixes such parts in their desiredrelationship and coacts with the friction lock between the beam elementsto provide a rig1d panel of great strength.

It will be noted that the beams 10 and 11 of the gridwork are eachprovided centrally of the web portio-n 15 thereof with a pair of spacedlongitudinally extending flanges 23, 23 projecting outwardly from eachside of the web portion 15. As is shown more clearly in FIG. 4 of thedrawings, the flanges 23, 23 inthe transverse beams 10 are approximatelycoextensive with the edge flanges 16 thereof and extend up to the innerends of notches 24, 24 provided in the end portions 2t), 20 of the web15. The notches 24, 24 are of a depth approximately equal to the lengthof the end portions 2G, 20 and are wide enough to readily receive theflanges 23, 23 of the associated longitudinal beams 11 of the gridworkand the corresponding flanges 23', 23 provided on the side frame beams13 (note FIG. 5). It will be understood that as a result of thisconstruction the opposing pairs of flanges 23, 23 on two adjacenttransverse beams 10 will form with the portions therebetween of theflanges 23, 23 on one longitudinal member 11 and on either anotherlongitudinal member 11, or of the flanges 23', 23' on a side frame beammember 13, a frame adapted to receive a sheet 25 of suitable size. Thusthose sheets 25 which are mounted in the frames so formed in thegridwork, will be located centrally of the gridwork and approximatelymidway between lthe outer side sheets 12, 12. The sheets 25 preferablyare made of translucent plastic material of a suitable color or avariety of colors and may be located in any suitable arrangement in saidframes in the gridwork to obtain desired color and design effects. Itwill be apparent that the aforesaid construction enables the resultantcolor effect to be displayed to equal advantage on both sides of thepanel.

The building panel is finished at its edges by the side frame beams 13.Preferably the side beams 13 each include a web por-tion 27 havinginwardly extending flanges 28, 28 which are spaced apart a distanceequal to the length of the space between the edge flanges 16, 16 in thebeam elements 10 and 11 and which are aligned with such flanges 16, 16(note FIGS. 2, 3 and 5). The locking members 21 of the associatedtransverse beams 10 are frictionally locked with the inner surfaces ofsuch flanges 28, 28 in the manner previously explained with respect toflanges 16. The flanges 28, 2S also form with outer inwardly extendingflanges 29, 29 arranged in spaced parallel relation thereto, a pair oflongitudinally extending recesses to receive the associated edgeportions of the two facing sheets 12, 12. The said edge portions of thefacing sheets may be permanently locked in such longitudinal recesseswith the aid of a suitable adhesive, the bond of which may be enhancedby roughening or grooving either one or both opposing surfaces of eachpair of flanges 28, 29. The ends of the side frame beams 13 are beveledso that the several flanges thereof will properly enclose the facingsheets 12, 12 and also the colored sheets 2S which may be associatedwith the ends of such side beams. This construction has the advantagethat the outer enclosing flanges 29 ofthe side frame beams form anintegral protecting lip for the facing sheets. lt is to be understoodhowever, that the panel may be constructed without the protectiveflanges 29, so that the side edge portions of the facing sheets aresecured to the flanges 2S of such side frame beams in the same mannerthat the inner portions of such sheets are secured to the flanges 16 ofthe gridwork beams 10 and 11.

Having illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of my invention,what I claim as my invention is:

i. A structural panel comprising a multiplicity of rigid beams extendingapproximately the length of the panel in one direction and disposed inspaced parallelism, a plurality of rigid beams of shorter lengthdisposed at right angles to said longer beams, each of said beams havinga web portion of substantial depth extending from endto-end thereof andflanges extending along opposite edges of said web portion, the flangesin each of said shorter beams on at least one end thereof, abuttingagainst intermediate portions of the flanges on at least one of saidlonger beams, the flanges on said longer beams presenting oppositelydirected plane surfaces of a width substantially greater than thethickness of the web portion, said abutting ends of said shorter beamshaving locking projections provided adjacently beyond the associatedange ends and located between said opposed surfaces, said lockingprojections extending outwardly from the associated web in oppositedirections, being made of readily deformable material, and being bent inopposite directions and rictionally engaging such opposed edges in suchtight relation, that said projections and opposed surfaces frictionallylock the associated short and long beams together, and a pair of facingsheets of translucent material secured to the outer surfaces of all ofsaid flanges and enclosing the gridworl: formed by said beams.

2. A structural panel as defined in claim l in which said lockingprojections and said opposed surfaces are constituted of aluminum, thealuminum material of such projections and surfaces being deformed underforce so that such elements are formed into a permanent interlockingrelation.

3. A structural panel as defined in claim 1 in which the flanges on saidlonger panels are provided with inclined surfaces located adjacentlyinwardly of said opposed surfaces, and in which said locking projectionsare deformed against and are interlocked in wedging relation with saidinclined surfaces.

4, A structural panel as dened in claim 1, in which said short and longbeams are provided on the longitu- 6 dinal central sections of the webportions thereof with a pair of spaced anges extending in the samedirection as said edge flanges, the central spaced langes on associ atedshort and long beams forming a plurality of sheet frames intermediatesaid facing sheets, and colored sheets mounted in said sheet frames.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 1,069,848Germany Nov. 26, 1959

